Unraveling the Hidden and Measured Drivers of Chronic Disease Accumulation Across Organ Systems

Highlight

• Measured and unmeasured life-course factors explain 24.5-86.3% of chronic disease accumulation across eight major organ systems.
• Unmeasured factors contribute substantially, accounting for most variance in chronic disease burden.
• Key modifiable measured drivers include body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose, and systolic blood pressure.
• The findings underscore the complexity of multimorbidity and the need for further research on hidden determinants.

Study Background